Skip to main content

Nigerian Military Court Adjourns Trial of Obanla Tokunbo Until November 10 After Spending Eight Months In Prison

November 5, 2020

He has been detained in the barracks and subjected to inhuman treatment since March, shortly after the video of Adeniyi surfaced on social media where he was lamenting of inadequate ammunition supplied to soldiers to combat Boko Haram terrorists.

The military court martial set up to try  private soldier Obanla Tokunbo, who recorded a viral video of Major General Olusegun Adeniyi, a former Commander of the Nigerian Army’s Operation Lafiya Dole, the counter-terrorism command in the North-East,
has adjourned sitting to November 10, 2020.

Obanla, who has spent eight months in detention, was sighted at the Command Mess, Abuja, venue of the court martial, on Wednesday.

Image

[story_link align="left"]84217[/story_link]

He has been detained in the barracks and subjected to inhuman treatment since March, shortly after the video of Adeniyi surfaced on social media where he was lamenting of inadequate ammunition supplied to soldiers to combat Boko Haram terrorists.

His lawyer, Martin Obono, while speaking with SaharaReporters on Wednesday, said Obanla's detention violated the provision of Nigerian Armed Forces Act and 1999 constitution.

Obono said he was was doing everything possible to ensure that his client regained his freedom.

He said, "He has been in detention for eight months and this contravenes the provision of Nigerian Armed Forces Act and constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria. Keeping the soldier for eight months without giving him opportunity to hear his side of the story is unfair.

"We really hope that by the time the matter is heard he will be able to get fair trial and regain his freedom."

Recall that the viral video showed faces of distressed soldiers, who had narrowly escaped major attacks from Boko Haram terrorists and were lamenting the lack of arms and institutional support to fight the insurgents.

This angered the army authorities, who soon set out to punish all those involved in the video recording.

[story_link align="left"]84488[/story_link]

Topics
Military